Team Gai's Rivals
by VIsForValarie
Summary: Neji, Tenten, and Lee weren't the only academy students of their year to graduate! Follow Sono, Sora, and Utako as they rival Team Gai and experience their own hardships. Is there a traitor in the bunch? What comes first, your village or love? Rated T.
1. Neji, Neji, Neji!

"Sigh…"

It was getting close to the end of the day and soon school would be over. But not soon enough.

"Okay, time for taijutsu class." Iruka-sensei announced.

'Great. That's JUST what I need.' Utako thought. Regardless of how she felt, it was mandatory. So the ever enchanting red-head got up and headed for the door. The walk to the track was actually kind of peaceful, until-

"Hey, Utako! Wait up!" It was none other then Ten-ten. The girl just let out a soft "Hey." as a response. It's not that she didn't like Ten-ten, she just found her…annoying sometimes. Like when she talked about-

"Hey, do you think Neji is going to win again?"

Neji. Neji, Neji, Neji. That is all you EVER hear this girl talk about. Yeah, the guy was pretty good looking, but my kami! This woman could talk about him non-stop for days!

"What do you mean?" Utako asked, half paying attention.

"Against Lee. You know he always challenges Neji to a race."

"Oh. I don't know." 'Don't CARE either.'

"Well I bet Neji will win again, I mean he's so great and trains really hard…" there she goes again, rambling on about Neji.

'Does this girl ever think about anything BUT Neji?' Utako wanted to tear her ears off, but decided against it.

Finally they were at the track. If Utako could just run faster then Ten-ten, she would be safe.

"Okay everybody, I want 10 laps from each of you!" Iruka announced, much to the despair of most the class.

"Ugh!" Utako grumbled.

"Hmpf." the girl spun around to see none other then Neji behind her.

"Geez, trying to give me a heart attack. It's rude to sneak up on a lady anyway." she hissed at the brown-haired boy.

"I would hardly call it 'sneaking', you're just oblivious to your surroundings. Don't think you'll be a ninja for long if you keep that up." he scoffed at her.

"Ya know, it's rude and distasteful to insult a lady."

They were now in a staring contest. Not to sound like Ten-ten, but Neji usually kept his cool and was professional. However, Utako could get under his skin very easily. They were defiantly rivals.

"Hey love-birds, stop flirting and start running!" a girl with short purple hair yelled out, now finishing her first lap.

"Love-birds? Hardly! I would never!" Utako screamed back, now chasing after the girl.

Neji, a little embarrassed, just silently started his laps.


	2. So That's Her Name!

Sora was running as fast as she could to get away from an angry Utako. Red hair certainly suited the girl, she had such a quick temper.

"Come back here you little brat!" Utako screamed, catching up to Sora.

"Uh-oh!" the raven-haired girl was now running at top speed, searching for a way to escape her crazy pursuer. Then she spotted it, or rather him.

"Hey, Lee! My best buddy!" the girl chimed, now catching up to the incredibly fast boy.

"Oh, hello Sora-chan. How are you today?" Lee and Sora were actually really good friends. While most kids picked on Lee due to his inability to perform ninjutsu and genjutsu, Sora was always their to support Lee…and occasionally beat the bullies up.

"Nothing much, just being chased by Utako." she said casually as they both turned around to see the girl on their tails.

"Faster, Lee! Faster!" they were now pushing themselves to the max, trying to stay away from the still fuming girl.

"You can't get away from me!" Utako yelled.

Sora turned her head to speak to the trailing girl. "We'll see about th-"

_THUD_

"Ow! Wh-"

_BAM_

Sora had crashed into the youngest girl, whose name no one knew, and Utako, not being able to stop in time, tripped over them.

"Agh! Get off me you fat-so!" Sora screamed, partially suffocated by the red-head.

"Ow…shut up. This is all your fault!" Utako yelled back, getting off of the girls.

"My fault? If you hadn't been chasing me, none of this would have happened!" she spit back, pulling herself off the ground.

They continued their little argument until Iruka-sensei came over to ask what's wrong.

"She started it!" Utako and Sora yelled at the same time, pointing at each other.

"That's not the important thing right now. Are you all okay?" his eyes glancing in the youngest girl's direction.

"I'm fine." "Me too." "Ow."

It was the young, green haired girl, who had spoken last.

The class was now huddled around to see what all the commotion was as Iruka bent down to take a look at the girl.

"Looks like you have a scraped elbow and knee. Nothing fatal, but I'm sure it still hurts." he chuckled after inspecting her.

Before either girl could apologize, Iruka-sensei spoke up again.

"Utako, Sora. Please take Sono and yourselves to the hospital to get checked out. Class dismissed."

'So that's her name.' was the only thing the two girls could think.


	3. An Interest In Medical Jutsu?

'Ow. This really stings.' Sono thought to herself, wincing in pain the two older girls guided her to the hospital.

"You okay?" the red-headed one asked her, obviously having forgotten her name already.

Sono just nodded as they walked into the hospital.

"Hello girls! How may I help you?" the receptionist chirped.

"Um well we had an accident during taijutsu class so we were wondering if we could get a check up. And our friend here needs some healing." the purple-haired girl admitted, embarrassment written all over her face.

"Of course! Just a minute!" She was way too happy to be working at a hospital.

About five or so minutes had passed and the trio was now sitting in the waiting room…waiting.

"Ugh. This is SO boring!" the oldest one complained.

"Oh, shut it. You're just mad that you didn't get to come here with NE-JI!" the other one teased.

"Sora!" 'Well now I know the purple-haired girl's name.' Sono thought.

"Utako!" 'And the red head.'

"So-ra!"

"U-ta-ko!"

"SO-RA!"

"U-TA-KO!" 'Okay now this is ridiculous!'

"Good afternoon ladies." a doctor just walked into the room. "I'm here to see…uh…yes Sono."

The girl silently stood up and followed the doctor, leaving the other two to bicker.

"So, Sono. Want to tell me what happened?" the doctor questioned as they walked into a room.

"Sora ran into me and Utako tripped over her." she got right to the point.

"Ouch, sounds like that hurt. Well, you'll be healed in no time." was all the doctor said before treating her wounds.

It stung like crazy but Sono just couldn't turn away. She was so fascinated with medical jutsu. It was simply amazing.

The doctor noticed her staring as he finished up. "I see you have an interest in medical justsu."

"Huh? Oh yes." Sono snapped out of her trance and looked up at the man.

"Thinking about becoming a medical nin?"

"Oh…well I don't know…"

"When will you be graduating?"

"This year."

"Really now? You look a little young."

"I skipped a grade…"

"Well, your all healed up now. You can go now Sono."

"Okay...thank you." the young girl said as she stood up and headed for the door.

"Oh and if you ever change your mind about learning medical jutsu, just come find me. My name is Hosho." he had a genuine smile on his face, but some disappointment in his eyes.

"I will." Sono replied as she rushed out the door. It was getting late.


	4. Practical My Ass!

"So how was school today, sweetie? You're home a little late."

Utako had just walked through the door. "Yeah, I know mom. There was an accident during taijutsu and I had to get a check up. But don't worry I'm fine." she huffed the reply.

"Oh well ok. So are you going to pass this year?" her mom nagged.

"Mom! I told you, I'm better now! I'm not going to fail!" Utako whined.

She had failed to graduate last year. Her nin jutsu were decent, but she sucked at the taijutsu. Thus, she was left behind and is now a year older than all her other classmates. Which totally sucked.

"Are you sure you're even fit to be a ninja?" her mom inquired.

That was it. Utako reached her breaking point.

"Mom! Can't you ever believe in ME and MY dreams? You always do this! You kick me down!" tears were streaming down the red head's face. Ever since her dad had died on a mission years ago, her mom has done nothing but tear apart all her dreams. Regardless whether they were ninja related or not.

"We'll dear, I'm just being practical."

"Practical my ASS! You're just being selfish!"

Within the blink of an eye, Utako had run up to her room and slammed the door. She crawled into bed and pulled the sheets up high over her head, not bothering to change clothes. It was going to be a long night.


	5. Least I Got Ramen

"Hey Bro, you home?" Sora yelled to an empty house.

She took a few steps inside and closed the door, waiting for an answer. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, she headed for the kitchen for something to eat.

It was dark in the house, since no lights were on, so Sora almost missed it.

As she was headed for the fridge, the girl spotted a note on the counter. Curiosity tempting her more than hunger, she decided to read it first.

'Sora,

I'll be out late. Visiting a friend. Don't wait up for me. There's some left over ramen for you in the fridge. Help yourself.

-Bro'

"Hmpf. Probably sleeping with another girl." Sora spat. She loved her brother, but geez. This guy was a total player. It was a new girl every week. He was hardly ever home anymore, which left Sora by herself a lot. Not that she minded, but it did get lonely.

_GRUMBLE_

Her stomach was getting impatient, so the golden-eyed girl got out the ramen and put it on the stove to heat up.

"Least I got ramen." she murmured to herself as it heated up.


	6. What's The Point?

Sono brushed her long forest-green hair as she sat on her bed, deep in thought. She always brushed her hair while mulling something over.

'Me, a medical ninja?' she repeated the question over and over in her head.

Sono was a very 'bright' kid, as the teachers put it. She had skipped a year in the academy, so she was graduating early. Her grades were brilliant, acing every test, and her basic jutsu were very good too.

But it wasn't for the same reasons everyone else did it. No, Sono wasn't pushed into early graduation by her parents or teachers, it wasn't even her goal to do that. If she had wanted too, the young girl could have became a genin years ago. At least that's what her teachers said.

Yet, what's the point of graduating early if you haven't found yourself yet. The girl wasn't even sure she wanted to be a ninja, going to the academy just kept her mind off of things. However, when that doctor, Hosho, had asked her about becoming a medical ninja…Sono felt excited.

'Is that who I want to be…? A medical ninja? Helping my comrades?' a smile appeared on the girl's face as she thought about it more.

"Maybe. Just maybe." she muttered as she put down the brush and got under the covers.

Only tomorrow would tell.


	7. Today Is A Practice Day!

"Good morning class!" Iruka-sensei said as he walked into the classroom.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei!" the entire class shouted back, getting in their correct seats and calming down.

"As you all know, today is Friday and the graduation exam will be on Monday. So, today will be a practice day." The whole class groaned at this, excluding Lee who shouted. "Perfect!"

"I'm not finished yet!" sensei continued. Everyone quieted down again.

"Today is a practice day. However, you will get to choose what you practice. Each of you has the choice to either stay in here and practice nin jutsu, or go outside to practice tai jutsu. I'll give you five minutes to decide and then we'll split up." he finished, sitting down at his desk.

Now the classroom was buzzing with excited chatter.

"I'm going to go wherever Neji goes, how about you?" Ten-ten chirped.

"Um…I'm going to practice my tai jutsu…" Utako replied shyly.

"Oh yeah…" was Ten-ten's only response

"Sora-chan, what are you going to practice?" Lee questioned.

"Eh, I suppose my transformation jutsu needs some work…so I'll probably stay in here." the girl answered, not bothering to ask Lee the same. Obviously he would be practicing tai jutsu.

Sono just sat in the back by herself. 'I think I should practice my tai jutsu…it's a little shaky.' she thought to herself.

Iruka looked up at his students who were all chatting about what they were going to do. Some bragging about how they didn't need practice. He couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

"Okay students, settle down!" sensei commanded. Obviously the students complied.

"Anyone who's going to practice tai jutsu come make a line at the door." About half the class jumped up, including Lee, Utako, and Sono.

"Okay you guys head out to the track, I'll be there in a few minutes." Iruka ordered politely. So the students marched off accordingly, leaving Sora, Ten-ten, Neji, and the other half of the class inside. Oh joy.


End file.
